The process for preparing the antibiotic steffimycinone and the description of its various biological properties are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,667.
The structure of steffimycinone can be shown as follows: ##STR1##
Steffimycinol and 7-deoxysteffimycinol can be prepared by reduction of steffimycinone as disclosed in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 775,856, filed on Mar. 9, 1977. Steffimycinol and 7-deoxysteffimycinol have the following structures: ##STR2##
Both antibiotics are biologically active, as disclosed above, and can be used in various environments to inhibit the growth of susceptible microorganisms. For example, steffimycinol and 7-deoxysteffimycinol can be used for treating breeding places of silkworms, to prevent or minimize infections which are well known to be caused by Bacillus subtilis. 7-Deoxysteffimycinol can be used in papermill operations to control the contamination of wool by the microorganism Bacillus cereus. Steffimycinol can be used to control Mycobacterium avium which is a known producer of generalized tuberculosis in birds and rabbits.
Also pertinent in the background of the subject invention is the article entitled "Reductive Microbial Conversion of Anthracycline Antibiotics" appearing in Biochemistry (1976), Vol. 15, pages 4139-4145, and the article entitled "Microbial Conversion of Anthracycline Antibiotics" appearing in The Journal of Antibiotics (October, 1975), Vol, 28, No. 10, pages 838-840. These articles disclose the microbial conversion of various anthracycline antibiotics, including steffimycin and steffimycinone. The reduction product of steffimycin being 7-deoxysteffimycinone and that for steffimycinone being 7-deoxysteffimycinone. There is no disclosure or suggestion in these publications of the processes of the subject invention.